Education Reform

Most adults remember standardized testing, used to assess how well students were learning and retaining the core material taught to them. Today, schools still require students to take assessment tests each year, which serves as a benchmark for the performance of teachers as well as students. However, the assessments conducted today vary from state to state, since it is the state government’s responsibility to develop an appropriate evaluation process for their own schools.

However, state-governed evaluations may soon come to an end. The Obama administration would like to provide national education standards that all states would be required to follow, according to a report on VOANews.com. These national standards would offer continuity in education throughout the country and help students compete more effectively in a global economy, according to proponents of the initiative.

On the other side, opponents assert that more government involvement will not necessarily translate into higher quality education.

Let us delve into both sides of the debate to determine the pros and cons of sending educational assessments to the national level. This video offers a brief explanation.

Introducing Common Core State Standards

To address the issue of standard deviations between states, the Common Core State Standards initiative was established. This state-led effort was coordinated by the National Governor's Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

The standards were developed with

A new model in public education continues to gain attention across the country: teacher-led schools that put teachers in the driver's seat of both the classroom and many of the school's daily operations. Often referred to today as teacher-powered schools, these campuses give educators a much greater role in instructional leadership and school governance than traditional public schools. Teacher-led schools have operated in cities across the country, including Los Angeles, Denver, Boston, Milwaukee, and Detroit, while additional teacher-powered schools have been established in states such as Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The movement has continued to grow as school districts search for innovative ways to improve teacher retention, increase collaboration, and better meet students' needs. Rather than relying solely on traditional administrative structures, many teacher-led schools distribute leadership among teachers, allowing those who work most closely with students to participate directly in important school decisions.

Bye-Bye Bureaucracy

The concept of teacher-led schools started with the idea that teachers are often better equipped to meet the needs of students because they work with children and curriculum every day. In traditional schools, teachers typically need approval from principals or district administrators before implementing significant instructional changes or introducing new programs. Teacher-led schools attempt to reduce these layers of bureaucracy by giving educators greater authority over curriculum, scheduling, professional development, and other instructional decisions.

In 2026, however, most teacher-powered schools do not eliminate administrators entirely. Instead, they use a shared leadership model. School leaders often continue to oversee budgeting, compliance, facilities, enrollment, and

E-books, some say, are the words of the future. The Kindle, the iPad, and other electronic reading devices are signaling the end of the print era.

Colleges and universities across the country have begun experimenting with using e-textbooks, rather than printed textbooks, to deliver course content. Now, the K-12 public school system is getting on the e-text bandwagon too, as several state legislatures make moves to support the use of electronic textbooks in their state’s public schools.

This video from Fox News reports on ebooks versus physical textbooks.

States Move to Adopt Digital Textbooks

Texas

In Texas, for example, the legislature adopted a bill in 2009 that provided funds for school districts and charter schools to purchase the technology necessary for e-textbooks. This bill also gave school districts and charter schools the necessary flexibility to adopt e-textbooks instead of traditional textbooks.

The bill also allowed school districts to be reimbursed by the state for 50% of the savings they incurred from the switch from regular textbooks to e-texts. As Texas Senator Jeff Wentworth reports in a guest column for the website My San Antonio, school districts may use the reimbursement they receive from the state to purchase educational technology, such as computers, if they choose.

Indiana

Twelve schools in the Indianapolis Public School System will soon be foregoing traditional textbooks as well. As the educational technology publication The

As Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools during the years from 2001 to 2009, Arne Duncan enacted major changes. Now, Duncan has taken the national stage as President Obama’s Education Secretary.

Education policy experts agree that the best way to understand how American public education may change under Duncan’s guidance is to look at Duncan’s performance as CEO of the Chicago public education system. A recent New Yorker profile of Duncan highlighted the many reforms that Duncan championed during his tenure as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, which included:

• ** “The turnaround” and shutting down under-performing schools – ** The New Yorker article describes the turnaround as Duncan’s “signature move” as Chicago Schools’ CEO. Duncan’s “turnarounds” in Chicago involved shutting down schools that had persistent records of low performance on measures such as standardized test scores and high school graduation rates. The students whose schools were shut down would often be transferred to newly opened charter schools.

• ** Opening new charter schools – ** Opening new charter schools was another of Duncan’s most significant undertakings as CEO of Chicago schools. The program that he championed, called Renaissance 2010, consisted of a network of charter, contract, and performance schools opened in the wake of the closures of low-performing schools.

• ** Using data to track student performance – ** As the Chicago schools CEO, Duncan pushed for public schools to collect more data on student and teacher performance and to use the data to guide decision-making.

• ** Drawing

Based upon requirements mandated by both the federal government and the state government, public schools are obligated to report their student body’s progress and test results each school year. As the United States Department of Education asserts, “All states and schools will have challenging and clear standards of achievement and accountability for all children, and effective strategies for reaching those standards.”

In light of recent national educational guidelines and standardized testing mandates, individual states have started to implement their own sets of learning and development standards. With every state providing schools and educators with educational goals and benchmarks, many parents and leaders are concerned about their local schools’ progress and achievement. With regulations shifting in various subject areas in states nationwide, leaders want to know: are the schools succeeding?

Student Progress and Reports

While each school has its progress records, the national average statistics show that public school students struggle to meet the established standards. According to Education Portal, the most recent NAEP test results show that approximately 1/3 of American fourth-grade students are below proficiency in reading, math, science, and American history.

Adding to this deficit, when comparing our schools to others worldwide, our eighth-grade students earned a 19 out of 38 ranking in the comprehension areas of math and an 18 out of 38 in science. Similarly, U.S. twelfth-grade students were ranked 18th out of 21 countries in math